When Red Is Black

Inspector Chen Series, Book 3

By: Qiu Xiaolong

Narrated by: David Shih

When the murder of a woman is reported to the Shanghai police while Inspector Chen is on vacation, Sergeant Yu is forced to take charge of the investigation.

The victim, Yin Lige, a novelist known for her banned book, has been found dead in her tiny, humble room off the stairwell of a converted multi-family house. It seems that only a neighbor could have committed the crime, for the building is kept locked at night. But there is no apparent motive.

Sergeant Yu tries to unravel the reclusive woman's past and begins to realize it may have larger political implications. The Cultural Revolution might be more than 30 years in the past, but its effects can still be felt at every level of Chinese society.

©2004 Qiu Xiaolong (P)2018 Tantor

Very Different

Not really a gripping mystery but a story about the pluses and minuses in China still under the shadow of the cultural revolution. Rather sad especially given today's tensions with a China going back to the old ways rather than moving forward as in this book

Once Again Exceptional

Qiu Xiaolong has, once again, written a layered, ornate, entrancing book. The portrayal of the society, culture and the political environment took me right there, beside each of the characters as they searched for the solution, each for their own reasons. China and, more specifically, Shanghai, is an essential character, centered in and central to the plot. The poetry inevitably laced through the books in the series is, itself, gorgeous. Everything about this book drew me in. Each of the main characters is someone I yearn to know better. My only regret is that Audible has not completed this much deserving series.